You couldn't help but admire the effort an undermanned Lewis Mills put forth Friday night. But you couldn't ignore the performance that Thomaston produced either. And performance ruled the night.

In a game with all sorts of Berkshire League title implications, the Bears put a serious dent in the hopes of the Spartans to hoist a trophy with a 66-50 victory fueled by a dazzling 29-point effort from Maggie Eberhardt.

The Bears took one step closer to their second straight title and third in four years, raising their record to 13-1 in the BL and 15-1 overall. Meanwhile, Mills slipped to 11-3 (11-5 overall). Nonnewaug is 13-2 in the league and plays the Bears in the next-to-last game of the season.

It took a second-half surge by the Bears to break a 29-29 halftime tie and pull away from the Spartans. For a long time, the early story was being written by Mills. Playing without two starters — the BL's second-leading scorer, center Teagan Dunn, and forward Lesleigh Carter — the Spartans barely blinked in the opening half.

Mills coach Joe Capitani offered no reason for the absence of the two players, who did not play against Gilbert earlier in the week, except to say, "They didn't play," and that they would be back next week.

Mills, however, hardly went into a shell. Instead, the Spartans pounded a path to the basket. With Hope Shevchuck (10 points), Cassidy Lockwood (11 points) and Natalie Ruel (17 points) repeatedly finding or creating open lanes to the hoop, the Spartans led for most of the first half. At one point, they built up a 29-23 lead.

"The girls stepped up and filled spots beautifully," said Capitani. "We had gaps, we had to fill roles. It wasn't that tough. In the first half, we showed we're the best team in the league."

That idea might get a few arguments from the folks wearing the brown and gold — well, on this night, black and pink on Cancer Awareness night.

You know Eberhardt would take exception. Her night started out cold from the floor, so she offered up a couple of highlight-reel scoop shots on drives to the hoop. Then in the final minute of the first half, she drilled a 3-pointer and ended the half with a 3-pointer from the top of the key to tie the game at 29-29.

The Bears were just getting warmed up. After Shevchuck started the second half with the Spartans' umpteenth driving basket, Thomaston coach Bob McMahon called timeout. It turned out to be the beginning of lights-out for Mills.

"(Mills) was driving by us at will. Hope (Shevchuck) and Natalie (Ruel) are really talented, but we didn't expect them to go by us that easily," said McMahon. "Then we hunkered down."

Indeed. How is this for hunkering? Trailing 32-31, Eberhardt canned a 12-footer to give the Bears the lead. Freshman Gabrielle Hurlbert then got into the act with a layup. Abby Hurlbert drilled a 3-pointer to make it 38-32.

Freshman Charlie Eberhardt (seven points, seven rebounds) added a foul shot, Abby Hurlbert converted a steal into a basket and Maggie Eberhardt nailed another 3-pointer. Abby Hurlbert added another hoop to cap a run of 15 unanswered points that put the Bears on top, 46-32.

Mills committed 10 turnovers in the period and went almost five minutes without scoring. To add one more dose of salt to the wound, Shevchuck went down after Eberhardt's 3-pointer with what appeared to be a knee injury and did not play the rest of the game.

The effort never waned, but the other side had more bodies and bigger guns.

"Hope going down was a big emotional blow," admitted Capitani. "Our theme tonight was finding a way to get it done. (Thomaston) started pressing us a little bit and we lost some steam in the second half."

Not the Bears. The lanes to the basket started to become clogged at the defensive end, and Eberhardt and Hurlbert elevated their games. The two combined for 50 of the team's points and seven 3-pointers.

"Our defense got us going," said Eberhardt. "We had to cut off the right-hand drives and help out on defense. We didn't know (Dunn and Carter) were not playing. They were still scrappy and competitive. They kept coming."

Eberhardt has now scored 53 points in two games against Mills and even was able to draw a smile from Capitani.

"That's just Maggie being Maggie and being a senior," he said.

McMahon knows he has something special in his talented twosome of Eberhardt and Hurlbert.

"We preach it takes five, but sometimes people shine a little brighter," said McMahon. "Maggie is playing so well. The program says 5-foot-3, but she is playing 10 feet tall. Abby is a little bit of everything."

And the Bears are a lot of everything and one step closer to another BL title.

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